Mercy
by moonlightfan78
Summary: Clary's kept herself away from him since she found out the news, but now after months he's back and he wants something. The only thing she wants is mercy...
1. Chapter 1

Mercy

The sound of fists hitting the bag is loud and rhythmic in the silence of the room. The only sound is the pounding of the fists against the bag and the pounding of her heart. She wipes the sweat out of her eyes and feels the burn of her muscles but she ignores it. She keeps pounding, hoping she will either pass out or be able to ignore the pain. She pushes herself praying for relief, praying for a way out of this misery. The last six months had been the worst of her life, pretending it was ok, pretending she didn't want something as much as she wanted her next breath. She kept pace with the furious pounding of her heart, needing to make it all stop.

She felt the change in the air and knew without turning who it was. She didn't want to turn, didn't want to see, but something inside her forced her, as if she were a moth to a flame. Her eyes slid to him and she was shocked again by him, his light. It seemed to come from inside him and damn it hurt her eyes. She turned away and focused again on the bag. She pounded it harder and kept up a steady pace, hoping he'd get the point and go away. Jace had other plans.

The bag pulled free of her pounding fists and quicker than she could blink her fists were caught in one large hand. He tugged and Clary's hands were against his chest locked in one giant paw as his other one locked around her lifting her and pulling her against him. Clary closed her eyes for a moment wanting to just enjoy the moment, the feeling of him against her. She'd been starving for it for months but hadn't wanted to give in. The pain around her heart wrapped around her tighter and she felt the breath come shorter in her chest as the pain cut through her.

The revelation that they were brother and sister had devastated them both and Jace had left for Idris the next day, neither of them knowing what to do with the stray feelings that swamped them. Clary had wanted him with every breath but she hadn't seen him in months. She'd watched him walk away from behind a column and had wanted to beg him to stay, if only so she could be near him, but she hadn't if only for her own sanity. Somewhere inside her she'd hoped that he'd come back, had dreamed about it, but he hadn't. He had moved on completely, including an engagement to the perfect shadow hunter.

A sob tried to break free from her throat but she bit it back. She would be damned if she'd let him see that he had broken her, he and that bitch fate. She opened her eyes and glared at him focusing all her attention on channeling hate into her gaze.

"get off me." She said in a scathing tone as she pulled back and glared at him. "I don't' want to hurt you." She struggled against his grip but found it hard as iron. "Wouldn't want to damage your perfect face for the wedding."

"No" he said in a firm low voice, "not a chance."

She glared at him and did what came naturally, a survival instinct. Everything in her screamed to get away like a wounded animal and she head-butted him hard. Her skull connected with his and he growled in pain as his hands released her. She felt the pain but pushed it away as she slid to the floor and walked away as quickly as possible, she had to get away from him. She had to get away from New York as soon as possible, no way in hell she was going to stay and watch him marry someone else. "I warned you." She said on a tired sigh as she grabbed her towel and reached for the handle. "leave me alone."Her heart hurt and she wanted so many things, she wanted him, but he was out of her reach and it was killing her. She reached to pull the door open when she was slammed against the door hard. Her arms were pulled up and pinned to the door and her body was pinned by the hard hot one behind her. Clary breathed hard, practically sobbing as the feel of him brought it all back. She could no longer hide or pretend that it didn't matter. The months apart had changed him, made him harder, more solid and he seemed to be everywhere around her. She could feel the his warm breath on her neck and she felt the pain rip her open.

"That's the problem" he said softly as he fit his body perfectly against hers "I can't."

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Clary sobbed, unable to bear it anymore. She was sick of the pain and sick of everyone expecting her to be okay. She stepped back and crunched down on his foot hard, grinding the heel of her boot down onto the instep of his foot. He growled again and lost his hold on her hands giving her just enough time to strike. She pulled her hands free and spun bringing both hands up and throat chopping him. She pulled back just enough to make it hurt but not hurt him really. His eyes watered but he moved quicker grabbing her and pinning her again between him and the wall. He slid one hard muscular thigh between hers and jerked her hands up again, effectively trapping her.

"Like I said, I can't." he said softly grimacing as he moved his face, checking for breaks. He looked at her and into her and Clary remembered the reason his being gone and being here hurt so much, he was the other half of her.

"Why?" she said fiercely, angry again "don't you have enough to worry about with the wedding and your perfect fiancée?" You need to not worry about me, let me get on with my life. You shouldn't be touching me anyway, not like this."

"I can't help it." He said with a crooked smile that was as irritating as it was beautiful "As for why, the answer is simple, I need you."

Clary closed her eyes, blocking him out, wishing it was reality. Part of her wanted to sink into it, to let this happen but she knew it was wrong, knew it was impossible. "You are determined to kill me aren't you?" She asked on a hiss as she let her head slide back against the wall. "Go back to Aline and have mercy on me."

Gentle fingers slid down her face, eyelids, nose and mouth. Clary sucked in her breath and cried harder, knowing the tears were pouring down her face and for once not caring. The past months had been absolute torture, she was surprised she had not simply let a demon take her, but something inside her had screamed at her to fight. She hated this pain, hated this misery, but she wasn't sure how to cure it. One thing was for sure this, him being here, anywhere in touching distance was a mistake.

"I tried," he whispered softly " but you won't leave me, every time I close my eyes, all I see is you. How am I supposed to live without you?"

Clary opened her eyes and glared at him, mad as hell. "You are such an ass, coming here saying this shit when you know how it hurts me, You are one sick son of a bitch." She popped her shoulder out of socket and pulled free, knocking the graceful Jace Wayland flat against the wall. She popped it back in as she kicked him hard, knocking him down on his ass.

"Stay away from me or I swear next time I will hurt you. If I see you again I will contact the clave, there are laws against this." She walked as quickly as possible and opened the door with her injured arm. "Give us both a break, go get married and go back to Idris, otherwise this just might kill me"

She opened the door and slammed it running as fast as her weak legs would take her. She knew she was a sobbing mess but needed to get away fast. She ran up the steps to the greenhouse and hid in the back corner that had been her refuge for the last few months. She slumped down in a bunch of the magnificent flowers Jace had shown her that first night and let it all go, crying harder than she had in her life. She knew she had done the right thing but the desire for him was closing in on her, it had been easy to deny it, pretend she didn't have these feelings when he wasn't here but now with his warm vital energy bashing against her defenses she knew it would take nothing to break her, she just hoped she survived it when her defenses fell.


	3. Chapter 3

Clary wiped her eyes and shivered, the greenhouse was beautiful but not always warm. This time of night it was almost freezing. After the midnight bloom of the magnificent flowers the temperature dropped rapidly to keep the plants alive. Clary knew she'd been here several hours because she was freezing. The chill in the air was nothing compared to the ice in her soul. She knew that no matter what, she had to put an end to this once and for all. There was simply too much chance that she would give in, and heaven help her if she did. She had to put herself so far out of his reach that there was no going back for either of them. She wiped the last stray tear away and stood brushing the last of the petals off her legs. She crept quietly out and into the silent institute careful to avoid the training room. She held her breath until she felt the cold night air on her skin and slipped out into the darkness.

The thing smiled and waited, just a few seconds more and there was no going back, no escape. The mundane walked tiredly up the steps and he wondered how mundanes survived at all, being so stupid and weak. The mundane walked to his front door, shoulders slumped and began to fit his key into the lock, he had no idea he was being stalked. The thing laughed again as he grabbed the mundane and sucked him into the darkness swallowing his scream. He slammed his victim down and continued to draw his energy out. This was too easy he thought to himself as he felt his bones shift and pop as he reformed. All too easy.

"Simon, wake up." Clary said as she jerked the covers off him. He lay still, sleeping more soundly than she'd ever seen him but she ignored it and pushed him again. He groaned and opened his eyes, they looked red and bleary in the low light and Clary instinctively took a step back. He closed them and when they opened again his normal hazel eyes stared back at her. Clary wiped away another tear that had snuck its way down her face and shook him again. He sat up stiffly but when he smiled it was dear and familiar.

"Clary, what are you doing here? He said in gravely voice, "It's like 3 am, that's late even for a monster movie marathon. Are you okay?" He slid his glasses onto his nose and Clary smiled sadly. She wished she could love him, had tried to love him, but Jace was always there inside her filling up her heart.

"I'm…" she couldn't even get the lie out before she broke down again. She collapsed into his arms and he pulled her against him on the bed. Clary wrapped herself around him and let him hold her, knowing on some level she was using him, but unable to stop herself. "I need you to take me away, make it so that Jace will leave me alone. He came back and everything came back, I'm going to die if I can't get him out of my system.

"Ok" he said softly "I've got you."

Jace paced as dawn approached and Clary was still missing. He'd tried to give her some time to cool off before looking for her but that had been a mistake. When he'd started looking for her about 40 minutes after their fight in the training room he'd not been nervous at first, but as the time passed and no one had seen her, his spine began to tingle. The institute had become an odd twist of endless rooms as they had frantically searched. Jace paced and practically wore a hole in the floor as he dialed the number and waited. He prayed he wasn't right but a feeling was creeping over him and he couldn't let it go.

" This is Simon," the tinny prerecorded voice said " Leave a message, or a possible new band name suggestion at the beep." The words echoed in his ears as the same message picked up over and over. Jace looked at the clock and noted the time, 6 am, clary had been missing for three hours. He knew the clave would frown on this but he had to do it, he had to find Clary before she did something stupid and irreversible.

He lifted his Stele to mark his arm when the door burst open. Isabelle stood framed there, her hair wild and her eyes filled with worry. She held up a torn messenger bag that Jace recognized as Simon's. It was slashed and covered in something dark that Jace knew without going closer was blood.

"Simon's gone and this was on his front porch" she said in a small voice "If Clary is with him, I think they are both in trouble."


	4. Chapter 4

Clary rubbed her arms and slumped down into the seat. Simon's van was old and drafty but at the moment she could care less, anything to get away from the situation was okay with her. She watched the scenery drifting by in the early morning shadows but all she saw was Jace. His golden eyes, his beautiful face. She knew she was crying but didn't care. Having him so close was killing her. Even knowing that he was in the same city she felt the draw pulling on every fiber of her being. She wished she could just disappear, pretend she didn't love him, pretend she didn't want him but it was such a part of her, the same way her art was, that she couldn't escape it. Maybe she had been fooling herself all along, that the distance made any difference. She put her face against the window and tried to hold back the chills but every mile between them was worse than the one before. Clary sighed, she knew she shouldn't but it was going against everything inside her to run away.

"Simon," She sighed softly "We have to go back."

Simon sighed and ran his hand through his curly black hair. He continued to drive, his silence unnerving. The song on the radio hummed along and Simon tapped his fingers along to the rhythm.

"Simon, did you hear me?" Clary asked softly touching his arm.

Simon pulled over to the side of the road and threw the van into park. He refused to look at her and the shadows skimmed his face in the semi darkness. "No, He said softly "I don't think so."

"Simon…" Clary started softly but stopped short when he turned to her with a snarl.

"I'm not done having fun with you." He said in a voice that slithered down her spine. His face morphed merging Simon's dear familiar face with that of a nightmare. She tried to scream but he clamped a hand down on her throat. Clary kicked out and connected with the thing's jaw popping it out of place. The thing in front of her screamed and crushed down on her throat with it's now massive hand and Clary tried to grab her steele but found darkness taking over as blood began to pour out of her nose and it all went dark.

Jace closed his eyes and ran his steele over the tracking rune on his arm. He held Clary's coat and cleared his mind of everything except for her. Her scent, her image swam infront of his face and he let it surround him. He felt the pull of the rune and let himself be taken over. He envisioned the way the wind blew her hair , the way she bit her lip when she focused and knew that now more than ever he needed her, couldn't lose her. The reason wasn't important, or at least he kept telling himself that hoping that someday he could see her as just a sister, no matter what his heart kept telling him.

The darkness rushed him so fast his breath was sucked away and Jace gasped as if he were underwater. The pain crept up then smashing into him so fast that he clawed the bedspread trying to escape it. He pushed it away when he realized with sick fear that the pain was hers. He stepped outside it and reached for her. The fingers of his mind reached out and found her. He smelled blood and felt her fear. This bothered him most of all because Clary had become one of the most fearless shadowhunters he'd ever known. He swung the eyes of his mind out and saw the blood everywhere, saw Simon's body on the floor. He couldn't tell if he was breathing but he caught an image in the mirror and wanted to come back. Clary was strapped in a chair with a dark mass hovering over her, one massive clawed fist griping her throat. Her nose splurted blood and he could see the thing sucking her body dry. The evil thing laughed in delight as if she were his favorite desert.

Jace wanted to scream but couldn't as he was tracking using the rune. He jerked and began to seize on the bed. Isabelle held his shoulders down as he writhed and tried to claw her. His eyes flickered open but rolled to white as Isabelle screamed for Alec. Alec rushed into the room and saw the fear in Isabelle's eyes. He felt it rush up his spine because Isabelle was hardly ever scared and she looked terrified.

"It's Jace, we have to help him." She said as she held out Jace's free hand to Alec. Alec scooted forward and grabbed it without thinking using Isabelle's strength and the Parabatai bond to funnel energy into him. The room began to shake as they began to be pulled in. Alec and Isabelle immediately were pulled into the track and could see what Jace saw. Isabelle gagged as she saw the blood. She saw Simon on the floor and tried to run to him but stopped when Jace and Alec grabbed her and kept her in place. Alec and Jace shared a look that Isabelle knew was a silent conversation and she knew that Alec had just lost. Jace was not coming back without Clary.

Isabelle felt her stomach roll and she tried to ignore the horrible screams and the coppery smell of blood because she knew if she had any chance of saving them he had to figure out where they were. because she knew Jace wasn't coming back until he knew he could find Clary. She knew that for Jace, despite the situation, that a world without Clary in it was not a world he wanted to live in. She ran her eyes over the grimy windows and wondered why bad guys always holed up in these places, was it in the villain rulebook or something. She wiped away the grime and looked outside searching frantically for any sign of where they might be. Her eyes swept over landmarks and hoped for something she could pinpoint. She smiled as she recognized a flashing sign and knew she had it. She turned to Jae and Alec and nodded before they all reversed the track and slammed back into their bodies. She rolled over quickly and helped Alec with Jace. She only hoped they weren't too late…


	5. Chapter 5

Ahh" the dark creature sighed as it pulled its pulsing feelers off the limp body. The blood flowed up and through its veins and it smiled for the first time in a long time. "Lovely" It said in its ancient chilling voice as its long lips peeling back over blood stained teeth.

Long slime covered tentacles slid up and over the limp head and wrapped itself in the once vibrant hair and pulled. The head slid back to reveal almost white eyes and pale red hair. Too bad it thought with a disappointed sigh as it pulled again, making the woman whimper, she was so much fun to play with

"I'm going to kill you." Clary said in a whisper. "And I'm going to enjoy it."

The monster smiled and pulled harder ripping some of her hair out. Clary screamed but the monster wrapped it's tentacle in what was left of her hair.

"Little Shadowhunter, You have no idea what you are dealing with. "I'll find your worst fears and bring them to life… your fear will be better than your blood."

"Bastard." She hissed as she tried to move away from the pain of the tearing at her scalp.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," the monster hissed with a chuckle "your father was right you are a spitfire."

"My father sent you?" Clary asked in a gasp as the monster slid its tongue up her cheek. She tried to pull away but wasn't able to.

"Well he asked me to find you and take you, but he didn't say I couldn't play with you first…" The black slimy face morphed and Clary found herself staring into Jace's golden eyes. "Little sister."

"***********************************************************************************

Jace jerked as they pulled to a stop in front of the run down building. The neon light flashed on and off in a dark rhythm and Jace felt as if he would jump out of his own skin. The pain was worse than ever and he clutched the jacket to his face trying not to throw up as wave after wave of fear and pain washed over him. The tracking rune lit up and seared his skin and Jace screamed as the smell of burning flesh filled the car. The tracking rune began to vanish and Jace felt himself go cold wondering at what that meant. Jace slammed the car door open and staggered toward the building thankful for Alec's arm holding him up.

A scream filled the air and the tracking rune disappeared and Jace felt his flesh crawl as they threw open the door and he found himself staring into his own eyes as the door hit the wall.

By the Angel " Isabelle hissed as she pulled her seraph blade out and it began to glow matching those held by a shaky Jace and Alec.

Jace stared back at them, face and clothes covered in blood. A long knife slowly peeling layers of skin off Clary's arms.

""Well look who joined the party." The monster wearing Jace's face hissed, "Big Brother."


End file.
